Kesineni Says TDP Paid Price For Alliance With BJP

MP Kesineni said TDP’s majority was reduced in Vijayawada Parliamentary Constituency due to alliance with the BJP. He further predicted that the party would win 2019 elections with more than 3 lakh votes majority.

Vijayawada: In less than 24 hours after the BJP leader and Central Minister M Venkaiah Naidu had hinted at review of the TDP-BJP alliance for the next round of elections, TDP MP from Vijayawada Kesineni Srinivas (Nani) spoke against continuation of the elections for 2019. Speaking at the party urban committee meeting, the MP said that his majority in the Vijayawada Lok Sabha Constituency in 2014 elections was reduced to 75,000 because of the alliance with the BJP and asserted that the majority would go beyond 3 lakh in 2019 if there was no alliance. The TDP had to pay heavy price by giving the Vijayawada West Assembly seat to the BJP in alliance during the elections. The BJP had lost the seat making the difference in the majority for the MP, he asserted.

Kesineni said that the next round of elections would have greater vote base for the ruling TDP as people across the State, in general, and in the seven Assembly segments of the Vijayawada Lok Sabha Constituency, in particular, were in favour of development initiatives of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. The party would win the 2019 elections hands down and there was no need for an alliance with the BJP, he asserted.

Though the TDP leaders who were present in the meeting including Minister Nakka Ananda Babu did not subscribe to the MP’s comments on the alliance, their silence to his claims indicated their acceptance. The BJP leaders in the State too are in favour of breaking the alliance for the 2019 elections and so are the TDP leaders. While the BJP leaders claim that the TDP’s victory in the last elections was due to the Modi effect, the TDP leaders assert that the BJP had won a few seats in AP only because of the wave in favour of Chandrababu Naidu after bifurcation. This claim from both sides stands against the cementing relations between the two parties at the grassroots level and the gap gets widened every time the parties meet separately.

It is to be seen how the top leadership of the two parties takes the decision ending speculation on the alliance. The BJP is getting ready for a show off on May 25 with the party national president Amit Shah addressing the party workers in Vijayawada, while the TDP is set for a major show in Visakhapatnam for three days from May 27 during its Mahanadu. The parties are set to take up the issue for internal debate first during these meetings.